HYMNS
Faith, Hope, and Charity,--these three,
Yet is the greatest Charity!
Father of lights, those gifts impart
To mine and every human heart:--
Faith, that in prayer can never fail,
Hope, that o'er doubting must prevail,
And Charity, whose name above
Is God's own name, for "God is love."
The morning star is lost in light,
Faith vanishes at perfect sight;
The rainbow passes with the storm,
And Hope with sorrow's fading form:--
But Charity, serene, sublime,
Beyond the range of death and time,
Like the blue sky's all-bounding space,
Holds heaven and earth in its embrace.
Meter: / 8.8.8.8
Scripture: / 1 Corinthians 13:13
Faith, hope and loveStephen Dean
In Sing Praise, no. 56
1Come, Holy Spirit,
give us new life from above;
come, Holy Spirit,
with your highest gift of love.
Faith, hope and love,
these three endure for ever.
Faith, hope and love,
the greatest of these is love.
2True, kind and patient,
love will keep no score of wrongs;
come, Holy Spirit,
let our spirits join your song.
Chorus
3Wisdom is passing,
knowledge vanishes away;
come, Holy Spirit,
lead us in your perfect way.
Chorus
Michael Forster (born 1946)
© 1995 Kevin Mayhew Ltd
5 7 5 7 and Refrain
1Faith, hope, love - these three shall continue:
faith is given to us by God's grace,
with faith we can move any mountain,
and by faith we shall see Jesus' face;
2faith's our shield of trust in our Saviour,
in temptation protection to give;
we never can boast of our goodness,
it's the righteous-by-faith who shall live.
3Faith, hope, love - these three shall continue:
hope is not just a vague wishful thought,
our hope is our certain assurance
of the new heav'n and earth Jesus brought;
4hope we need to temper our judgment,
hope that evil and pain understands;
the hope that we have is an anchor -
God has got the whole world in his hands!
5Faith, hope, love - these three shall continue;
God so loved us he gave us his Son,
who's shown us that love is the answer -
must not we too then love everyone?
6Faith, hope, love - these three shall continue:
grasp all three and you never shall fall,
but love is God's name and his nature,
and love is the greatest of all.
John Hastings (1927-1998)
© Mrs Joyce Hastings
9 9 9 9
Copied from HymnQuest 2013: CLUE Version
Faith, Hope, Love PRAYER
God of faith, deepen our faith
so we may bear witness to Christ in the world;
God of hope, strengthen our hope
so we may be signposts to your transforming presence;
God of love, kindle our love
so that, in a fragile and divided world,
we may be signs of the faith, hope, love
which we share in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Pentecost Prayer for self, church and deanery
Holy Spirit, open my eyes and calm my mind.
Holy Spirit, give meFaith.
Holy Spirit, give meHope.
Holy Spirit, Give meLove.
Amen
Holy Spirit, open our eyes for your presence in this church.
Holy Spirit, give us Faith
Holy Spirit, give us hope.
Holy Spirit, give us love.
Amen.
Holy Spirit, be with our brothers and sisters in Christ in this deanery.
Holy Spirit, give them faith
Holy Spirit, give them hope
Holy Spirit, give them love.
Amen.
Holy Spirit,
give us the recollection of the Father’s love,
of the Son’s unceasing prayer,
of the world as God’s world
and of your own presence within us.
Amen.
A prayer by St Francis
Most High glorious God,
enlighten the darkness of my heart.
Give me right faith, sure hope
and perfect charity (love).
Fill me with understanding and knowledge
that I may fulfil your command. Amen.
Faith hope love ideas for WORSHIP activities
Ideas:
Paper doves with Faith, hope, love
Ask people to write three short prayers:
one for themselves,
one for their church,
one for the deanery.
Write them on the doves and offer them up either at the offertory or ask people to leave them at the altar rail when coming up for Communion.
If you have really clever people in church, why not ask someone to display the doves as a mobile or mobiles (using coat hangers and fishing wire).
Ask for 3 testimonies, like Peter’s on Pentecost Day: one on faith, one on hope and one on love.
How has the Bishop’s Call inspired you, your church and your deanery?
Why not write your own Eucharistic preface, on the theme of Faith, Hope, Love?
Blessing
Living God, you have taught us that faith without works is dead,
so temper our faith with love and hope
that we follow Christ and give ourselves freely to people in their need:
then the lives we live may honour you for ever. Amen.
May God bless us and keep us,
may Christ grant us faith, hope and love,
and may the Spirit fill us with life. Amen.
An Irish blessing
May your hope be… As determined as the river racing by,
As soft as the cry of the mourning dove,
As sweet and subtle as a lover’s sigh,…
As resolute as the sun rising each day,
As certain as the return each year of spring.
May it break through the darkling clouds
And confirm you against every evil thing.
May Jesus strengthen your faith and hope and love,
And may God bless you…
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
A short reflection
In times when you feel you have no faith, or hope or love,
may you remember the mustard seed:
the tiniest of things that takes root and grows
and one day becomes a great tree sheltering all the birds of the air.